1 Corinthians 12:10

The power to work miracles. MacKnight understands this to be the ability to confer spiritual gifts on others. Only the apostles seem to have had this gift from the Spirit (see Acts 8:14-17 and notes). Of speaking God's message. Prophecy = God's message. The prophet, under divine control, spoke the message given him (or her) by the Holy Spirit. See Acts 15:30-32. Sometimes the prophet told about the future (Acts 21:10-12). To tell the difference. This gift from the Spirit made it possible to know whether someone who claimed to be inspired by the Holy Spirit actually was! (Some would claim inspiration just to get glory for themselves.) Also, this gift from the Spirit made it possible to know which messages were true, and which were false. Not having the New testament, they needed a miraculous way to check up on the things that were said. To speak in strange tongues. By means of this gift, preachers could go into a foreign country and immediately speak the local language like a native. Compare Acts 2:4-11 and notes. The ability to explain. This served as a check on those who spoke in strange tongues, because they could translate and verify the things which had been said. Also, they could translate the Scriptures from the strange tongues of Hebrew and Greek into their own languages.